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City polls take the public’s pulse

Toronto&rsquo;s murky polling activity became a little clearer when the city signed a 3-year, $2.7 million deal with two pollsters.

By Paul MoloneyUrban Affairs Reporter

Thu., June 30, 2011

Toronto plans to spend up to $2.7 million over the next three years on opinion polls to find out what people think of city services — ironically, when the people who provide those services are being asked to slash their budgets by 10 percent.

No one seems sure whether that’s more than the city has spent on polling in the past, since the costs tended to be buried in departmental budgets. The previous three-year contract was capped at $1.76 million over three years.

The current one, split between Ipsos Reid and Pollara, also represents a maximum figure, and according to city spokesperson Wynna Brown it’s “very unlikely” the city will actually spend that much.

Eight city departments or agencies want to conduct polls. Some examples:

• The water department, which has routinely conducted polls every three years, wants to ask, among other things, if you know how to guard against basement flooding.

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• Economic development wants to know if you enjoyed Nuit Blanche and whether you’re a tourist or a local.

• Public health plans to poll about 300 businesses in July on how it’s going with their online reporting of chemical use, required by a new bylaw.

• And solid waste is curious about whether the collection calendar is helpful. Is the print size okay and are the icons legible?

Also included on the list for potential polling: public health, social services, transportation, the Toronto Environment Office and the city’s strategic communications division.

The release of a departmental breakdown has made the formerly murky picture of the city’s polling activities a little clearer.

Councillor Shelley Carroll, who chaired the budget committee under former mayor David Miller, was surprised by the total cost. “I don’t recall ever seeing amounts like this,” she said Thursday.

Councillor Peter Milczyn, who’s on the current budget committee, said it’s unclear to him whether spending on polling has risen. “I know it used to be embedded in different department budgets,” he said.

But issuing a single contract should help keep costs in line, Milczyn said. “It sounds to me like we’ve actually put more control on it than there was before.”

The contract is a ceiling figure, meaning departments won’t necessarily spend that much. And the budget committee will review the cost with an eye to reducing spending, he said.

Carroll said the issue had never come under discussion because the tender went out while politicians were busy campaigning in last fall’s municipal election. The request for proposals was issued June 16, with a deadline of Aug. 13, and the contract was awarded a week before Mayor Rob Ford took office.

“This went out as we were out there on the hustings,” Carroll said. “The timing is very interesting.”

Councillor Janet Davis also couldn’t recall the issue coming up in committee or council meetings, adding: “I don’t know how that kind of expenditure got through.”

She said she will ask for disclosure of the polling data. “I’d like to know as a councillor what we’re polling about and the results. And I’d like to know what the results are. If we’re going to spend all this money on polling, council should decide.”

While the Ford administration has been emphasizing customer service, Milczyn said polling is nothing new for the city.

“The objective of our polling is to measure residents’ satisfaction with different services. It is used as a tool to try and create better customer service,” he said, adding that he wants to assure himself that spending isn’t out of line and that bureaucrats make effective use of the results.

Of the potential $2.7 million in polling work listed, Ipsos Reid was awarded up to $1.9 million and Pollara up to $800,000.

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